Joseph Sobran Quotes

Politics is the art of making the people believe that they are in power, when in fact, they have none.

Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed by names; nor was he deceived in his expectation, that the senate and people would submit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured that they still enjoyed their ancient freedom.

In all sorts of government man is made to believe himself free, and to be in chains.

The things they don't tell you in schools these days, geez. Have a look at your owners. The politicians are put there to give you the idea you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice; you have owners. They own you. They own everything.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

Patriotism ... for rulers is nothing else than a tool for achieving their power-hungry and money-hungry goals, and for the ruled it means renouncing their human dignity, reason, conscience, and slavish submission to those in power. ... Patriotism is slavery.

Democracy is the fig leaf of elitism.

All political power is primarily an illusion …. Mirrors and blue smoke …

We lead them to believe that we are in complete control over every aspect of their lives.

The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.

History is not happenstance: it is conspiratorial. Carefully planned and executed by people in power.

Remember that anybody who is clever enough to set you free is clever enough to enslave you.

The American people are free to do exactly what they are told.

The art of governing mankind by deceiving them.

Who owns a man, Durnik?” the blond young man asked sadly. “The one who rules him, or the one who pays him?

The victim of mind-manipulation does not know that he is a victim. To him, the walls of his prison are invisible, and he believes himself to be free.

...We're a government that believes in everybody having the illusion of free will.

Sometimes I think that a parody of democracy could be more dangerous than a blatant dictatorship, because that gives people an opportunity to avoid doing anything about it.

Secrecy is the foundation of politics.

Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.

The wise become as the unwise in the enchanted chambers of Power, whose lamps make every face the same colour.

I have always been fascinated by the corruption of power.

What the power structure is afraid of is that we're going to learn to recognize the truth when we hear it.

Men still have to be governed by deception.

So I still seized the power, but I felt that if I officially made myself the boss, in black and white, it would be too intimidating for the other producers and the other men who worked on the show. In other words, I had the power, but I gave them the title.